From PPP's latest poll of Michigan primary voters.
Santorum’s advantage over Romney seems to be a reflection of voters being more comfortable with where he is ideologically. 48% of voters think Santorum has more similar beliefs to them, compared to only 32% who pick Romney on that question. 63% of primary voters think Santorum’s views are ‘about right’ compared to only 42% who say that for Romney. 37% believe that Romney is ‘too liberal.’
63 percent think Santorum's views are 'about right.'
Rick Santorum thinks homosexual sex should be a felony and heterosexual sex should be a misdemeanor. His views are 'about right?'
Apparently if you're to the left of Rick freaking Santorum, only 37 percent of the GOP will approve of you. Thus we discuss the curious case of Mitt Romney.
You may have been able to make a very convincing argument that Mitt Romney was liberal at one point in time, but the rhetoric he has chosen to run on is far from liberal. So either conservative voters simply don't believe Romney is genuine, or they believe he's still too liberal.
My initial assumption would be the former, but in a world where 63% think Santorum's views are 'about right,' it's possible Mitt Romney really is still too liberal even if you take his campaign rhetoric at face value.
The 37 percent of voters who think Romney is too liberal is a higher percentage than he is currently polling at in Michigan where he's hovering around 33 percent support. And given that Romney is still campaigning against the bailout of Detroit in Michigan, the fact that more people think he's too liberal than have decided to support him must be leaving the Romney campaign scratching their heads.
An environment where 63 percent think Santorum is 'about right' has major implications for the general election even if Romney is the nominee. He will not be able to waver, at all, on the criminalization of womanhood.